Some Kind of Beautiful
by redhead414
Summary: Harry and Ginny work towards finding their places again, putting their lives back together along with starting a new one to share after the end of the Second Wizarding War. Rated M for future chapters.


_**I promised a few people a million years ago I'd do a Harry/Ginny story...and well...I kind of started it this weekend...**_

* * *

"Would you like some help?"

Harry didn't bother opening his eyes. He'd know her voice anywhere. "I can't tell you the last time I had a proper bath."

"I always took you as a shower type of bloke," she replied, walking into the small bathroom in her parents' house and shutting the door behind her. As long as Ginny had been alive she'd never seen the bathroom door completely latch shut, but everyone in the house was well versed to know that it's current state right now was shut enough to be considered occupied.

Harry was too tired, too sore to laugh, but managed to give Ginny a small smile in response. "I am a shower kind of bloke. I'm just too tired to stand."

"Or to wash," she added, noting that he was still pretty filthy for someone who had been in the bath for the past half hour or so. Grabbing the still dry flannel from the edge of the tub, she walked around to the head of the tub where Harry was propped up against and nudged him with her hand to sit up for a moment. He groaned, but caved while she pulled her jean pant legs up past her knees and climbed into the tub, sitting down on the edge. Ginny dunked the flannel into the hot soapy water and brought it up to his chest as he leaned back, gently scrubbing the dirt and grime away. It was only when she was able to find clean skin did she realize just how bruised and scarred he was from his year on the run with Ron and Hermione. "Oh…Harry," she said softly as she noticed the horrible bruise in the middle of his chest, right over his heart.

His head leaned against the inside of her thigh and sighed, relaxing against her touch. They'd only been back at the Burrow for a few hours. "I missed you so much," he quietly confessed.

"I missed you too," she softly replied, careful not to press too hard as she washed him clean. She reached up momentarily to pull her sleeves up a bit higher before they became soaked, and then went back to work. "Is that bruise from the curse?"

"From Voldemort's, yeah," he hoarsely replied. "I saw my parents. Sirius and Remus too, right before he showed up and killed me."

"You mean tried to kill you," Ginny corrected. "And what do you mean you saw your parents?"

"I mean I saw them. I had the resurrection stone. It was hidden in the first snitch I'd ever caught at Hogwarts - the snitch Dumbledore left me," he told her. He hadn't told anyone that yet. "And I did die. I went to this weird place - or not a weird place - it was Kings Cross actually. It was all white, and Dumbledore was there. He told me I could choose to either stay and go with him, or to come back."

"How…I mean…how is that even possible?"

"Did Ron and Hermione tell you about the Horcruxes?"

She nodded, even though he couldn't see. "They did at breakfast this morning. Professor Quirrell, his mother's ring, the diary, the locket, the Hufflepuff cup, Ravenclaw's lost diadem, and the snake."

"You're missing one."

"No…Hermione told me all of them."

"No. You're still missing one. But that's only because she didn't want to be the one to tell you," Harry confessed as he moved to rest against her other thigh so that Ginny could wash the other side of his neck. "I was a horcrux. When Voldemort killed my mother, a piece of his soul latched on to me. It's why I could see things…and speak Parseltongue. A piece of him was in me, and when he cast the killing curse, he destroyed the piece of his soul in me. He didn't know I was a horcrux. If he had, he never would have been so hell bent on killing me."

Ginny blinked back her tears as she dunked the flannel back into the water. "So because he killed the horcrux, you were able to come back?" she whispered, unsure if her actual voice would work or not.

He nodded. "I couldn't just leave everyone. Most of all you."

"Me?" Ginny questioned.

Harry rotated his neck back just enough so he could look up at her, her long auburn locks hanging around her face as she leaned over him, her head hanging down with her eyes closed. "Ginny. Ginny look at me."

She opened her watery eyes and bit her lip to keep from crying.

"Ginny, you have to know I love you. It's not something I can just shut off," he confided to her. He reached his water-pruned hand up and cupped her cheek, his bath water mixing in with the tears that began to escape. "I just want to be with you. Always."

"Really?" she asked, take aback at his confession. Of course, her feelings certainly hadn't changed for Harry, but she wasn't sure what would happen now that everything was all said and done.

"Really," he confirmed. "And I swear…if you take me back I'll tell you everything. Everything I haven't told you because I wanted to protect you, and everything I couldn't tell you despite desperately wanting to. I want you to be the one I tell everything to."

She nodded, and leaned in just enough to catch his lips with hers. "You have no idea how much I've missed you," Ginny mumbled against his lips.

He kissed her again and sighed, his head sliding back to lean against her thigh. "Better remember that when you get sick of me, because you're stuck with me."

"Oh am I now?" she teased, dunking the flannel back into the water so she could wash the grime from his arms. "I suppose I'll find a way to manage."

"As long as it isn't too hard," Harry tiredly teased back.

Silence fell between the two as Ginny kept on washing as much of him as she could possibly reach from where she sat. She nudged him forward with her knees and with a flick of her wand that she pulled from her back pocket; Ginny transfigured the soap dish on the sink into a large cup and summoned it within her reach. Filling the cup with bath water, she doused Harry's head repeatedly until it was thoroughly soaked so she could wash the filth out of his hair.

"Now I'm going to smell like you," Harry mumbled as Ginny's fingertips scrubbed against his scalp.

Ginny giggled slightly. "Sorry," she unapologetically replied. "It was the closest shampoo in my reach."

"I don't mind," he replied. "I like the way you smell."

"I reckon that's good for me then, isn't it?" she asked, rinsing her hands off in the bath before taking the cup once again to rinse the coconut scented soap out of his hair. "Take a deep breath and close your eyes."

He did as he was told, and waited patiently for Ginny to remove the soap from his hair. As she finished, he yawned, the movement for one second as the yawn made his muscles tense, sending pain throughout his body. "Do you reckon your mum has a pain potion I can have after this?"

"Mum has pain potions stockpiled in this house from us kids," Ginny replied as she moved to step out of the tub. She opened the small cabinet under the sink and pulled out a towel for Harry. "I'll go get you one. Come downstairs when you're done?"

Harry looked hesitant to say yes. "Your parents…and everyone…"

"No one blames you for Fred," Ginny quickly retorted. "And besides, Mum's worried about you. Dad too."

"But Ginny -"

"No buts," she snapped. "You're a part of this bloody family, whether you like it or not." Dropping her shoulders at the sight of his defeated face, she grabbed his glasses and walked back over to the tub, placing them on his face before cupping his cheeks with her hands, forcing him to look at her. "It will make Mum feel infinitely better if she can see you, and knowing that you're eating," she told him in a quieter, gentler voice. Giving him a kiss for good measure, Ginny grabbed the disregarded towel and placed it on top of the toilet. "Come downstairs, please?"

He nodded. "Alright. I reckon if your mum put food in front of me, I could eat some."

"Good," she replied. "And Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

"How long do you think he'll stay up there?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as she picked at her bread roll. "He's exhausted Ron. Considering what he's been through, I'm honestly surprised he isn't sleeping." She put her roll down on her plate and absently reached up to the new scar on her neck - something Ron immediately noticed.

He nudged her knee with his. "Don't mess with it," he quietly said. "You'll only make it worse."

She looked down. "I can't help it."

Ron looked around the kitchen, perking up as he heard his mother entering. "Mum!" he exclaimed, a bit more eagerly than he intended.

Molly Weasley looked at her youngest son, sitting with Hermione, and couldn't help but smile at the sight. "Yes dear?"

He nodded towards Hermione. "Will you look at the cut on Hermione's neck, and see if there's anything you can do for it?"

Molly's eyes went wide as she immediately went over to the girl, pulling her hand away to see the extent of the cut. "Goodness gracious my dear girl! It's infected! What on earth gave you this?"

"Not what, who," Ron grumbled. "But don't worry, she's dead now."

"She?"

"Bellatrix," Hermione whispered. "When we were at the Manor…she had her knife to my throat."

Adding to the list of reasons why Molly didn't feel bad about ridding the Wizarding world of Bellatrix Lestrange, she kissed the top of Hermione's head and went over to her medicine cabinet near the kitchen sink. She rummaged for a moment, but returned with a paste and some dittany. "Now, scoot over towards Ronnie and tilt your head towards him so I can get a good look at it, alright?"

Hermione did as she was told, but instead of scooting she leaned into Ron, her head resting against the upper part of Ron's chest in a somewhat strained way so that Molly could see the cut. She tried not to wince at the stinging of the dittany, but it was hard, so she bit her lip instead, and closed her eyes tight while Ron grabbed her hand.

Molly watched her son as she reached for the paste to help the scar fade, and watched as he whispered something only Hermione could hear into her ear. Her already broken heart cracked just a little bit more as she saw a single tear escape Hermione's eye. "Almost done, dear," she whispered as she smeared the paste onto the offensive scar with her thumb, no longer red thanks to the dittany. "There you go."

Sniffling, Hermione reluctantly pulled away from Ron, and gave Molly a smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."

"You can stop with that Mrs. Weasley nonsense now, don't you think?" she mockingly scolded with her hands propped up on her hips.

Hermione smiled a little, and nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Molly."

"You're most welcome," she replied. "Now, are you two still hungry?"

"We're fine, Mum," Ron said. "You should get some rest though. Dad says later tonight that we're going to plan…everything."

Molly shook her head. "There are too many things to do right now and plenty of people to take care of. I'll be fine. Don't you worry about me."

"Ron's right."

Ron and Hermione looked over Molly's shoulder at Ginny, who had damp spots on her sleeves and her long auburn hair up in a ponytail.

"Ginny dear," Molly said with a happy but forced smile. She'd been forcing many smiles since Fred died. "Did you check up on Harry?"

She nodded. "He'll be down shortly. But Ron's right. You should go take a nap. Really. We're all going to be fine and we promise we aren't going anywhere."

"Yeah," Ron chimed in. "We're all staying at the Burrow."

Molly let out a weary smile. "As tempting as a nap sounds, someone needs to look after George and Harry -"

"Bill and Charlie are with George," Ron interjected.

"And I'm perfectly capable of taking care of Harry," Ginny added. "I'm going to make him eat and then make him get some sleep - in that order."

Molly clapped a soft hand against Ginny's cheek. "You're a good girl, Ginny. I guess a little kip wouldn't hurt anything. Just…just tell your father to wake me the moment he and Percy get home."

Ron and Ginny nodded, speaking "yes, Mum," in tandem.

As Molly headed up towards the stairs, Ginny joined her brother and best friend at the kitchen table, snagging a turkey sandwich from the middle platter and putting it on a plate of her own. "She looks exhausted."

"I can't blame her," Ron replied.

"Where did Bill and Charlie take George, anyway?" Ginny asked.

Hermione frowned, raising an eyebrow at Ron who shrugged. "They're uh…out in the shed. Drinking."

"Drinking?"

Ron shrugged again. "Bill and Charlie asked George what he wanted to do and he said he wanted to drink…so that's what they're doing."

Hermione shook her head, not agreeing in George's method of grieving. "Hopefully one of them is keeping sober in there."

"Why didn't you go with?" Ginny asked Ron.

He jerked his head towards Hermione, blushing as she caught him in the act. "Yeah…I uh…I didn't want to leave Hermione."

Ginny giggled as Ron wrapped an arm around Hermione's waist, pulling her even closer. "So did you two idiots finally get together then?"

"Yes, well," Ron stammered, looking down at Hermione. "Did we?"

Hermione smiled, grazing a thumb against the stubble of Ron's jawline. "Yes, Ron, we did."

Ron grinned like a fool. "Wicked."

"Room for one more?"

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, nodding quickly as she exhaled a sigh of relief. He looked much better now that he wasn't covered in blood and dirt. "Did you have a nice bath?"

Harry looked over at Ginny and gave her a knowing smile before sitting next to her. "Yeah. I believe I did. Nice to take a real bath after everything."

"Right? I reckon I stood in that shower this morning for bloody ever," Ron agreed.

Ginny grabbed Harry a plate and put a sandwich on it for him. "Eat," she instructed, adding a bread roll while she bossed.

Harry looked down at the plate, his stomach growling. He was certainly hungry, but after going as long as he had without putting real food into his body, he was afraid he would just toss it back up. Looking up at Hermione and her still full plate, he could see she felt the same way. "I'll eat if she does," he said. "You're skin and bones, Hermione."

"You're awfully scrawny yourself, you know," Hermione pointed out, picking a bite from her roll and popping it into her mouth. "Besides…I've been trying to eat for the past hour. My stomach…it's hungry and hates food all at the same time."

Ron looked at the two of them like they were mental. "Both of you eat. We spent all that time with barely anything to eat and now we have more food than we know what to do with."

"Apparently Weasley stomachs are made of steel," Hermione said, looking at both Ron and Ginny as they seemed to eat lunch with little problem. "We're never going to be able to keep up, Harry."

Harry laughed. "You're just now figuring that out?" He forced himself to take a bite of his sandwich, washing it down with some pumpkin juice Ginny gave him. "Where's your dad?"

"He's with Percy at the Ministry," Ron replied. "They're trying to see how soon they can get a Portkey ready for Hermione to find her parents."

Hermione looked down at the mentioning of her parents. "I supposed I should check on their house as well. Make sure they have a house to come back to."

"We'll go with you," Ron said encouragingly. "Right Harry?"

Harry nodded. "Absolutely. Ginny too."

Ginny arched an eyebrow at her boyfriend. "Me too?"

"I'm not leaving you behind anymore," he quietly reminded her. "Where I go, you go."

Smiling, Ginny leaned in and gave Harry a kiss, ignoring the loud groan from across the table.

"Oi! I'm trying to eat here damn it, and now you've gone and bloody ruined my appetite!" Ron shouted.

"Language!" Hermione chided.

Harry looked over at Ron, reaching for Ginny's hand as he spoke. "I'm in love with your sister. Is that going to be a problem?"

Ron stared back at Harry for a moment. "Are you going to break her heart again?"

"You know why -"

"It doesn't matter what I know," Ron interrupted. "I just want to know if you're going to do it again."

Harry shook his head. "Never."

The two boys stared at each other for a bit longer, before Hermione threw a piece of her bread at Ron. "Honestly - the posturing is a bit much, don't you think?"

Ron gave Hermione an indignant look. "She's my sister, Hermione. It's my job to protect her."

"Ginny can take care of herself, you know," Hermione pointed out. "She did just fine this past year without you. Besides, who else would you want snogging your sister?"

"I don't want anyone snogging my sister."

"Oh for heaven's sake, Ron!" Hermione exclaim. "Just admit it. If Ginny had to be with someone, you're at least glad it's your best friend."

Ron looked at Hermione, ready to argue back but clearly thought better of the idea. Sighing in resignation, he looked back at Harry and nodded. "Just…you know…she's my sister - and my favorite sibling at that."

"I know," Harry replied.

The rest of lunch was relatively low key. Harry managed to eat most of his sandwich, but Hermione could only stomach her roll and half a glass of pumpkin juice before excusing herself upstairs. Ron sat at the table, wondering if he should go after her or if she would rather be alone.

Ginny grabbed the plates from the table and took them to the sink. "Ron, why are you still down here?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Should I go up?"

"Of course you should!" Ginny exclaimed. "What sort of boyfriend _doesn't_ go up after his girlfriend?"

"Oh bloody hell, you're right."

Ginny jerked her head towards the stairs. "Of course I am, you big dummy - now go!"

He scowled at his sister, but eventually took her advice and retreated towards Hermione, leaving Ginny and Harry alone.

"Come on then," Ginny said, holding a hand out for Harry to grab onto.

He took her hand, and let her tug him upright from the table, their feet shuffling towards the living room. Ginny plopped down on the lumpy old couch in the living room and leaned forward enough to pull the coffee table towards her. Kicking her feet up, she gave the space next to her a pat, and Harry smiled. Grabbing a pillow from the other end, he tossed it into her lap and all but collapsed onto the couch, his head dropping onto the pillow. His eyes closed as her fingers began to rake through his damp-dry hair.

"Go to sleep," Ginny whispered.

Harry sighed. "This doesn't feel right."

"What?" she asked, somewhat alarmed.

He rolled onto his back so he could look up at her. "I'm not talking about us," he reassured her. "I'm talking about you comforting me. I should be comforting you. Fred…he was your brother too."

Ginny smiled as her eyes welled up with tears that she quickly blinked away. "I can't do anything about Fred being gone," she told him. "But I can do something for you. Which is about as good of a distraction as I can ask for at this moment."

Harry sat up and peeled his glasses from his face, setting them down on the coffee table. Scooting to the other end of the couch, he motioned for Ginny to come to him. "Come on," he encouraged.

Frowning, Ginny sniffled but obliged, lying down next to him with her body pinned between his and the back of the sofa. Her head dropped to his chest, and she let out a long breath she didn't realize she was holding. The moment his arms wrapped around her, she started to cry without any way to stop it. "You almost died," she said in between her muffled sobs."

Harry couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't almost die - I did die. I just came back."

"Fred can't come back."

"I know," Harry whispered, leaving a lingering kiss against her forehead. "If I could make him come back I would. Trade places even - I would do it in a second."

She shook her head, her tears soaking his gray t-shirt. "I can't lose you," she confided. "Ever. I can't…when I thought you were dead and…I…I…"

"Shhh," Harry soothed. "Everything is going to get better. I promise. I don't know how, exactly, but I promise somehow, everything will get better."


End file.
